The quality of his work remained consistently and remarkably high in any medium. His last feature film was The Man with Bogart's Face (1980), and he retired in 1981.[2] Nominated five times for an Academy Award, Duning never won.[3]

Duning was an active citizen of the music industry, serving on the ASCAP Board of Directors from 1972 to 1985, and as ASCAP Vice President from 1978 to 1979. He also served on the Board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was active in numerous other music industry organizations. In addition to his Academy Award nominations, Duning was also honored with awards from the Society for the Preservation of Film Music, Downbeat Magazine, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and his home state of Indiana (1993 Indiana Composer of the Year).